Boxing Experts Blog

There’s no testing hurdle to clear, Mayweather and ‘Pacman’ camps say their ready for the big fight

Floyd Mayweather is fighting Victor Ortiz this weekend, but just like with every other recent "Money" fight, the side story is if the veteran fighter will finally clash with Manny Pacquiao. And the answer has always been pertaining to the performance enhancing drug tests. We've heard that for two years, but after yesterday's discussions with both sides of the negotiation, the testing issue should dead and buried.

David Mayo reports that Bob Arum said that Pacman is good to go:

He said last week that his side "will accede to these tests, " with no timeline limits, and allow the United States Anti-Doping Agency to conduct them, as long as results are shared immediately with the regulatory authority overseeing the fight.

"The athletic commission has to supervise and the reports have to go to the athletic commission, because otherwise, you've got this testing group that's functioning outside of the regulatory scheme of boxing, " Arum said.

Nevada would be the perfect landing spot for the fight. The Nevada State Athletic Commission has experience dealing with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and its recent tests before all Mayweather fights.

The most important thing we heard yesterday was Mayweather confirming that there won't be an issue over whether the final prefight test is done 24, 14, 17 or 7 days before the fight. He just wants it to be random.{ysp:more}

So Floyd has backed down with specific demands, but that doesn't mean he's vanquished his doubts about Pacquiao's legitimacy.

"I'm not ducking and dodging nobody -- never have ducked and dodged no one," he said. "But like I always say, when you see an athlete like Michael Jordan in college, you say, 'He's going to be great.' You see LeBron James, you say, 'He's going to be great.' You see Muhammad Ali, you see Sugar Ray Leonard, you see all these different fighters -- even myself -- you say, you know what, from the beginning, 'He's going to be great.' A guy all of a sudden don't become 24, 25, and just become great."